The present invention generally relates to mailboxes and more particularly to a mailbox having opposing doors that are interconnected.
The present invention is generally directed to mailboxes designed to be positioned at the side of a street or road. Such mailboxes are typically located remote from a residence for service by a postal worker who can deposit and remove mail from the mailbox without stepping out of his vehicle. Such mailboxes have traditionally presented various problems with their use.
For instance, because the mailboxes are positioned to be accessed by a vehicle, a person retrieving his mail typically has to step into the road or street in order to open the mailbox and remove its contents. When stepping into the street, a person has to be very cautious so as not to be struck by a car or otherwise interfere with traffic. Further, when approaching the street or road, a person must be wary of flying debris, water or slush which has deflected off a passing vehicle.
In the past, those skilled in the art have attempted to solve the above described problems by designing a mailbox with both a front door and a rear door. By providing two doors, mail can be inserted and removed from the rear of the mailbox without stepping into the street or road. However, if the front door were left open, or became open for any reason, one would still have to enter the street in order to return the door to its closed position. As such, a need exists for a dual access mailbox in which the front door can be closed without having to step in front of the mailbox.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,278 to Hasselbring, a double door mailbox is disclosed having interconnected front and rear doors. Specifically, the doors are connected by a pair of link rods slideably connected to each other permitting either door to be opened or closed, but preventing the opening of both doors at the same time. The link rods are mounted and attached to the doors along a side of the mailbox in order to not interfere with the insertion or removal of mail. However, because the rods are only connected to each door along a side, problems can be encountered when trying to close a door by opening an opposing door. For instance, because the rods are only connected to one side of the door, the door may tend to not close evenly, especially if the door is made from a flexible material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,816 to Malik also discloses a mailbox having doors at opposite ends. The doors are interconnected by a rod and a chain running along the outside of the mailbox. Where the chain and rod meet, a signal element is pivotally mounted. In this arrangement, when a door is opened, the signal element is automatically pivoted to a vertical or horizontal position for indicating when the mail has been delivered.
Other mailboxes with various signalling devices are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,778 to File and in U.S. Pat. No. 3,891,139 to Redling. However, particular features and advantages of the present invention remain absent from the prior art as will be described in more detail hereinafter.